When you are arguably the NBA's most improved team, singling out which player has improved the most is like choosing a favorite child.

Suns coach Jeff Hornacek can't do it.

"They've all done something more than they've done last year," Hornacek said.

Seven veterans are averaging career highs. Three rookies are growing up. The road from last place in the Western Conference to the upper-third tier of the NBA is filled with improvement but each Suns player's advancement probably takes away the chance of any one of them becoming the league's Most Improved Player winner.

The Suns are vying for most improved team with Portland but with a completely different dynamic. The Suns had three players who were on the active opening-night roster for each of the past two seasons. They had a first-year head coach with a new staff. The canvas was blank for roles and reputations, creating an environment for many players who were still trying to prove themselves in their careers to advance as Suns.

As the sage veteran, Channing Frye was just trying to rediscover his game after a year away from basketball. He has seen the maturation in teammates around him and gives credit to that environment created by Hornacek and the front office.

"They felt like this year they're going to get a real opportunity," Frye said of his teammates. "We all do something different and so they're flourishqing in that role. When you have a coach like Jeff, even though you make mistakes, you're still going to get opportunities if you put in work outside the court. With some teams, they go in as the one piece and that piece is interchangeable and they don't feel like they're important. But everybody on this team is important. Everybody is doing the best they can and staying ready every night." The reason we've been successful is, at any moment, somebody could get their chance so they're staying ready. That is really the pressure for everyone to constantly get better and be ready and to really embrace what we're trying to do."

Frye calls it a tie for most improved Suns player between Gerald Green and Markieff Morris.

Green, on his seventh NBA team, was coming off two seasons in Russia and a season in Indiana that ended with him out of the rotation and on the trade block. Now, he averages more than 15 points, increasing his 3-point shooting percentage from 31.4 last season to 38.1 this season, entering Thursday night's game, with 6.3 attempted per game.

"The coaches have really done a great job of putting us in places to be successful," Green said. "Everybody gets an opportunity to go out there and play. Jeff has confidence in everybody. A lot of coaches don't do that. He's just so positive and has so much energy and faith in us.

"I still feel like I've got a lot to learn and a lot to prove. I still have so much that could get better." I could get better at my ball-handling. I could get better at my defense. I could get stronger. I feel like my decision-making could get better. My pick-and-roll could be better. I'm blessed to have the season we're having but to me, if we don't make the playoffs, this season means nothing to me."

Young players who barely have played naturally improved with exposure in the NBA and seasoning from practices and games. But the Suns' cast of improving players includes several veterans. Green is in his seventh season. Goran Dragic is in his sixth season. P.J. Tucker, with a route through Europe, has been a pro since 2006.

Yet, each one of the three veterans has improved.

"You learn the game a little bit more," Hornacek said. "The young guys learn more with their skills and adjustments to playing every night and more minutes whereas the veteran guys learn the little things, things that maybe they couldn't score on in their first three or four years, they're now knowing the little nuances of the game that they've seen over and over and over and they feel comfortable and maybe more relaxed."

Dragic's rise has been more celebrated because he turned into a star in the absence of Eric Bledsoe, who might have been a Most Improved Player frontrunner had he not been hurt twice this season to only play 24 games. Dragic's perimeter shooting has been the vast improvement but he also has better command of the team in half-court offense and draws fouls more than ever.

"Goran has stepped his game up to another level," Hornacek said.

Tucker established himself as a hustler and a top-notch defender last season but this season he has proved his mettle as an everyday starter, key rebounder and reliable shooter. He went from a 31.4 percent 3-point percentage last season to 39.8 percent this season entering Thursday night.

Morris is in only his third NBA season but embraced his reserve role to the point that he is a Sixth Man Award candidate. He has improved his offensive judgment to take higher percentage shots (from 39.9 and 40.7 percent in his first two seasons to 47.4 this season entering Thursday) and increased his energy level to be more reliable.

"Markieff has got more consistent with his production and his level," Hornacek said.

The coach will acknowledge second-year center Miles Plumlee as the biggest surprise for how far he has come along. Plumlee went from logging 55 minutes all season as an Indiana rookie to an everyday starting Suns center who was picked for the Rising Stars Challenge.

"We're proud of these guys that, when they got their opportunity, they made the most of it," Hornacek said. "They play hard and they've improved."

Reach Coro at paul.coro@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-2470. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/paulcoro.

What a bump

The Suns are a team of improved players, as exemplified seven career scoring seasons by veterans.

Player

2013-14 scoring avg

Career-best season avg.

Goran Dragic

20.4

14.7 (2012-13)

Eric Bledsoe

18.0

8.5 (2012-13)

Gerald Green

15.2

12.9 (2011-12)

Markieff Morris

13.2

8.2 (2012-13)

Marcus Morris

10.1

7.7 (2012-13)

P.J. Tucker

9.4

6.4 (2012-13)

Miles Plumlee

8.6

0.9 (2012-13)

What KD was saying

"P.J. (Tucker) is my guy. We compete against each other. I think I compete against him harder than anybody that I play against, just because it's like a big brother-little brother thing. I'm the little brother and I want to definitely go out there and play well against the big brother. I've been knowing P.J. since I was 17 years old. He definitely took me under his wing when I first got to Texas. I'm happy that he's having so much success here in Phoenix but hopefully he plays terrible tonight."

"He (Goran Dragic) just turned this whole thing around. He and Eric Bledsoe at the point guard position playing together as well really changed the whole identity of the team. Guys that get into the ball defensively, that push the ball on offense, that get everybody involved to make plays. With Bledsoe out, he took a lot of the reins at the point guard position and is handling a lot and just doing everything for the team. I appreciate a guy like that. He goes about himself quietly. Not a lot of noise around him. He just goes out there and handles his business every single night."

— Durant

What's next?

The Suns have a back-to-back road set against Golden State (Sunday) and the Los Angeles Clippers (Monday) and come home to face Cleveland on Wednesday. Eric Bledsoe will return to action in one of those games.